


Sic vita est

by Dannilovesangst, Soleera



Series: Āctiōnēs secundum fideī [11]
Category: 2770 ab urbe condita - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:20:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29804904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dannilovesangst/pseuds/Dannilovesangst, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soleera/pseuds/Soleera
Summary: During the fallout from the events of optimō positō voluit, both Citizens and Slaves learn that not everything is always as it initially seems.Especially, Cupido reflects, when a certain pair of senators are concerned...
Series: Āctiōnēs secundum fideī [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938643
Kudos: 13
Collections: 2770 ab urbe condita - the collected fiction





	Sic vita est

_9th December 2770_

Cupido was sure the Fates were in hysterics over what he had to deal with right now. What they’d thought he’d done to deserve the walking disasters that seemed to constitute most of the free people around him, he didn’t know. He _did_ know he wanted it to stop, however.

The day had started like any other. Marcus had emerged from his room with Julian in tow at his usual time, had breakfast in the Atrium, and then gone to his tablinum to prepare for clients. Marcus had seen his few clients who came in person, had answered emails, made a few phone calls…

Everything was normal. Everything was calm. Everything was fine. Then Mars had decided to come and see Marcus formally…

Cupido hadn’t been entirely sure the younger slave had meant what he’d said to Sidonius a few days before about belonging to Appius. Yes, Mars enjoyed sex and would do well as the bedslave of a rich free man, despite all the traumas he had from his past owners. That didn’t mean Appius would be the best choice for him. Though, a voice in his head told him if that was really true, then why did he allow Sidonius to talk to the younger boy in the first place? He had to have known this would happen given how Mars was.

Cupido silently cursed the voice of reason in his head that only piped up at the most inconvenient times. He also cursed the pair of senators who made his life so complicated. Seriously, how free men managed to run the entire Empire was beyond him given what he had to deal with. Then again, Marcus at least would have his professional life in shambles without Cupido, so he probably wasn’t the only slave keeping things running behind the scenes.

But Mars. Had come to the tablinum. Had told Master Marcus what had happened a couple of days ago in broad detail. Had asked permission to be allowed to talk to Appius, and at least consider what he was offering.

The master had seemed to take it well, telling Mars if he wanted to do that, he could, but had also told him he didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. Least of all Appius, who could suck it up and listen to Marcus for once in his life. Mars’ mind has been set, however, and the Master had agreed to talk to Appius to arrange a time. As soon as Mars had left the room, however, Marcus had done a one-eighty degree turn in temper.

Storming out of the room and then out of the house, not even stopping to put his pallium or outdoor-shoes on, it was all Cupido could do to keep up with his silently raging Master. Who was striding down the street with an intensity that sent anyone who happened to be in his way literally diving for cover. They didn’t even stop to look at his face, the secretary reflected, his countenance being enough to send even another Patrician who happened to be strolling past diving for the cover of the nearest doorway.

It would have been funny, if Cupido wasn’t slightly worried for Appius’ life. Because there was only one place the Master could be going right now. Marcus wasn’t generally in the habit of murdering those who annoyed him (he’d have been kicked out of the Senate long ago if that was the case) but...

Cupido had known his master wouldn’t be happy to hear that Appius hadn’t taken ‘no’ as a final answer in regards to Mars not being available to either use or buy. He’d expected anger at the other senator (and Cinna), especially when Marcus found out that Mars wanted to show Appius his scars to shut down any hope of the other senator actually being serious...

Cupido internally groaned at those thoughts.

What a mess. And he was right in the middle of it. He should have just told Sidonius no when the other slave had asked to talk to Mars, and stopped all this before it even started. But he hadn’t. For a very good reason, but still...

Marcus had to wait for a moment at Appius’ front door for the doorkeeper to let him in, which gave Cupido a chance to catch up with the senator, even though his thoughts didn’t quiet down in the slightest. As soon as the door was opened, Marcus marched in without pause, storming towards Appius’ tablinum. Shooting the doorkeeper - Damon? - an apologetic look, Cupido raced after him, but hadn’t quite reached the tablinum before Marcus’ roar of pure unadulterated rage echoed through the entire house.

“How DARE you disrespect my authority and my words spoken IN MY OWN HOUSE!!! Who do you think you ARE?!?”

...

Appius blinked, seemingly not even worried about a yelling Marcus, but clearly confused.

“Right now, I’m a confused man, who you’re yelling at in his own house and who has no idea what you are talking about.” He answered, while Sidonius looked like he wanted to hide behind his Master.

 _He_ had a very good idea what Marcus was talking - yelling - about, and he was sure his Master would catch on soon enough. Senator Marcus’ look alone was enough to make Sidonius want to prostrate himself and grovel for forgiveness at his feet. Despite the fact he hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d just been doing what he’d been told! Admittedly, he’d done what Cinna wanted and not what Appius told him, but...

Senator Aemilius took a deep breath, face practically purple with rage, before he unleashed it all at Appius.

“You know very well what I’m talking about, don’t act coy! You sent your secretary snooping after the boy, completely disregarding and disrespecting the fact I told you he ISN’T available nor is he for sale! You have no idea of the kind of things he’s been through, and it’s not your place to pry! Besides that, you DISRESPECTED what I SAID IN MY OWN DOMUS!!!! I told you Mars isn’t for sale and that he’s to be left alone.”

Marcus took a deep breath, looking even more enraged. Appius, on the other hand, looked like he would watch a very interesting show as Marcus continued, voice controlled and deathly calm.

“HAS the senate become so corrupted in my absence that you no longer show respect to a fellow senator and friend! Does my word mean _nothing_ to you?!? Out of everyone I know, I thought you at least had the personal honour and integrity to not go behind my back and try and stab me. Seems I was wrong.”

Marcus was still livid, glaring challengingly at the other senator. Sidonius glanced at his Master, noticing that the last words clearly hit their mark. Appius didn’t look amused at all anymore. He was clearly angry himself as he stood, hands gripping the edge of the desk.

“Believe me, _friend_ , if I wanted to stab you in the back, you wouldn’t be able to yell at me, after I’d done so.” Appius snarled. “I merely had a conversation with Cinna about the happenings in your balnea! What she does with this information is out of my control! I didn’t order anybody to _snoop_ at anything.”

Sidonius nearly whimpered when Appius gazed at him with slightly narrowed eyes. It was true, his master hadn’t ordered him to do anything! Why hadn’t he told Cinna _no_?!

“But I’m sure Sidonius acted only with the best intentions in mind. Unlike others, who come to my house and insult me, just assuming I did something without having solid proof!”

Marcus glared even harder.

“Oh, I have proof. I told you the boy had been abused and said he wasn’t available or for sale, and that should have been the end of it! The fact you said _anything_ to Cinna in the first place tells me you didn’t accept that as my final answer!”

“Oh, so now you are forbidding me to speak freely in my own house?!”

“When your topic of conversation involves one of my slaves who has been whipped bloody in the past and came to me seeking sanctuary, YES!” Marcus was truly angry now. Even Cupido, who was hovering near the doorway, backed a little bit further away from him. “I expect my words to be _respected_ if nothing else!”

“Like you showing me respect by treating me like I’m your servant without my own mind?” Appius asked calmly, while Sidonius started to pray to every god he could think of this wouldn’t end with bloodshed. Marcus appeared not to hear him as he continued yelling.

“You’re no better than that bloody Tiberia! She never accepted my words as having authority either! Never respected me or my words! Cheated on me with that slimy bastard and had the nerve to do it for months behind my back while laughing at me and being sweet to my face!!! Abused my slaves, and poisoned my youngest son against me so he’s as good as dead!”

It was a good thing the outer walls of the domus were soundproof, Sidonius thought distantly as he cowered behind Appius. He was sure everyone in the domus was being treated to the full effect of a livid Marcus Aemilius Flavianus. While everyone here already had a pretty good idea of what Tiberia had done (they’d all known her cousin after all), Sidonius was sure neither senator would appreciate the neighbours knowing about Marcus’ private business.

The senator in question meanwhile had now a slightly unhealthy skin-tone - not that the near purple had looked healthy, but the colour was now gone. For a short moment, Sidonius feared Marcus had had a heart attack. A thought that seemed to occur to Appius as well, who frowned now and made a pacifying gesture.

“Now, Marcus, calm down a bit, will you?” Appius said, snapping his fingers.

Out of nowhere, Menon appeared and rearranged one of the chairs before Appius' desk. Giving the other Senator a worried look, he vanished again shortly after. Sidonius noticed the other slave did so reluctantly, however. Looking past Cupido, who was still hovering in the doorway, the secretary could see the steward, Aetius, who had his phone in one hand and a deep frown on his face, apparently ready to make a call for help. If this help would be Cinna or the Vigiles was a question Sidonius couldn’t answer right now and if he was honest, I didn’t want to think about it.

Meanwhile, Appius pushed the other senator down on the chair. Marcus didn’t give him any resistance, or at least not much. Sidonius noted Marcus’ hands were shaking and knew Appius had seen that as well, as his master frowned deeply.

“Cupido, run home and fetch your Master’s boy, will you?” Appius asked, ordered actually, without taking his eyes away from his friend. Cupido gave Marcus one more look, before taking off in the direction of the front door.

Sidonius meanwhile busied himself with filling a glass of water and handing it to his Master, before he ran to the atrium to fetch a footstool. He wasn’t surprised at all, to see the whole household huddled together near the entrance to the kitchen, their faces showing worry and concern.

“How bad is it?” Aetius asked and Sidonius only shook his head, before heading back into the tablinum. He wasn’t that surprised to find the shaking had increased in his brief absence, and the other senator now looked close to tears, to put it bluntly.

He looked like a...broken man.

“You are right, I ignored you and gave Cinna the information I’m interested in one of your slaves, deliberately, fully knowing what she would do. I must confess, I thought she would only talk to Cupido, without dragging Sidonius and the boy into this, though. For that, I do apologize.” Appius admitted while he made sure that Marcus slowly drank the water he’d shoved into his hands. “But I needed something to poke you, so you could explode into my face, instead of having a breakdown somewhere else. You have the ugly habit to bottle all your feelings up - like I did, shortly after Quinta tried to kill me.”

Sidonius inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, while he put the foot-stool near Senator Aemilius' chair, so the man could put his feet up. It didn’t sound like he would be punished for his meddling. At least he hoped he wouldn’t be punished for it. He _did_ act without an explicit order from his owner after all.

Marcus didn’t react to the other senators' words and only hid his head in his hands, shoulders shaking. Appius rubbed his back soothingly, humming softly, while Sidonius fixed his gaze on the thick carpet under his master's desk. He felt uncomfortable being a witness to all of this, but he hadn’t been dismissed, and that meant Appius wanted him to stay. No matter how he wished to be able to just disappear right now.

It was a relief when they were interrupted by young Julian bolting into the room and literally throwing himself at Marcus, breathing hard. Looking up, Sidonius saw Cupido was holding onto the doorpost to the tablinum, doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Sidonius would bet his fellow secretary had run all the way home and all the way back to get Julian here as quickly as possible - he had already observed having the teen around calmed Senator Aemilius.

Appius only looked for a moment at Marcus, and how he put his arms around Julian as the boy cuddled into his neck, before nodding once.

“Sidonius, go and make sure Cupido can sit down somewhere. And send the others back to their work. Julian, if you need something, touch the intercom. Make sure Marcus drinks a little bit more water. I will be in the atrium.”

Orders given, Appius didn’t wait for any answer, leaving the room. Sidonius hurried to obey. As he helped Cupido in the direction of the kitchen, he could see how Aetius closed the curtains and the sliding glass door to the tablinum behind them. Cupido was noticeably limping a little, and his breathing was far from calm.

He’d definitely run the whole way. Sidonius knew Cupido hated running with a passion, but desperate times called for desperate measures, as they said. And the secretary decided this was definitely desperate times.

**Author's Note:**

> Sic vita est - such is life


End file.
